Autumn Playlist

Hi everyone,

When the Autumn season approaches one of the first things I do to make me begin feeling autumnal is to create a new playlist. Personally my playlist tends to contain slower, more acoustic and chilled songs which are simply comforting to listen to whilst wrapped up in a blanket, sipping on a hot chocolate filled with marshmallows and topped with whipped cream - mmm. 

Here is a list of my top 15 songs on the playlist :-)

1. Angels - The XX
2. Blossom - Bipolar Sunshine 
3. Don't - Ed Sheeran
4. Feels Like Sleep - The Dkyeenies
5. First Light - Racing Glaciers
6. Fools - The Aikiu
7. Girls Like You - The Naked and Famous
8. I'm A Mess - Ed Sheeran 
9. Let Us Stay Young - Lucas Nord vs. Urban Cone
10. Midnight Life - The White Panda (Kanye West & M83)
11. Naive - The Kooks
12. Rollercoaster - Bleachers
13. Sweater Weather - The Neighbourhood
14. Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand
15. You & Me - Disclosure ft. Eliza Doolittle (Flume Remix)

Lots of love,

Sarah Marie x

Sugar Junction Tea & Cake Parlour

Hi everyone,

Yesterday I visited Manchester again and popped into a little tea room for some yummy lunch. The tea room was lovely and cosy, with little jars of coffee and tea lined up on a shelve and array of tempting cakes sitting there on the counter. It was furnished with old school decor such as a vintage telephone and a vintage sewing machine.

After the waitress took our order, the drinks arrived shortly after and I was absolutely delighted when they brought out mason jars with little paper straws to put your drink into. I have to say that Orange Juice was one of the best I have ever had!

Next out came the food which arrived on little wooden boards covered with a checked sheet. I opted for a Mediterranean vegetable and hummus sandwich which was accompanied with coleslaw and a tiny cup of sweet potato fries - it was delicious and definitely worth £6.95!

The cakes were one of the first things I saw when I walked in and I knew I would most definitely be having one for dessert. The options were scrumptious: carrot cake with walnuts on top, coffee and walnut cake, white chocolate and blackberry cake, fruit cake, and the one I opted for a triple chocolate Malteaser cake! Unfortunately I don't have a photo of this as I devoured it as soon as it arrived - oops!

I love finding cute little independent cafes to eat at, they have a lovely atmosphere and I think they are definitely worth spending that little bit extra of money on :-) I would definitely go back there again. 

Check out Sugar Junction here. 

Lots of love,

Sarah Marie x

Feather OOTN

Hi everyone,

Yesterday I went to lunch for my friend's birthday and ended up going on a little shopping spree with her and some other friends. :-) It's safe to say that shopping with friends whilst at uni with a budget is never a good idea, but then again there's nothing wrong with a little retail therapy here and there! 

Later that evening we went out and of course I had to wear my purchases of the day, so here is my OOTN: 

     

I really like the pattern on the top, it gives the outfit that little something extra and I'm so happy i managed to find similar boots to replace my old ones which were very well loved! :-)

Lots of love,

Sarah Marie x

Top: Topshop £22 (Feather Print Bralet)

Bottoms: Topshop £25 (High-Waist Ponte Treggings)

Shoes: Zara £29.99 (Open Track Sole Bootie)

Manchester

Hi everyone,

Recently I went for a day trip to Manchester for my boyfriend's project and explored the Northern Quarter. It amazed me how the feel of the 90s was still prominent through the unique shops, record stores and the fashion that were people were wearing. Whilst there I stumbled across a shop called Magma (which is great if you are into design) and picked up two fashion magazines, Love and iD.

I would definitely recommend these magazines if you want to further your reading (in this case for fashion) and try something a little different from Vogue or Elle. These magazines can be hard to get hold of if you don't live in the city, but you can still look at their online sites daily :-) 

Magma Books Store Online

The Love Magazine - £6.00 - http://www.thelovemagazine.co.uk

i-D Magazine - £6.00 - http://i-d.vice.com/en_gb/

We also found a cute restaurant called Wood, and mostly everything in there was believe it or not made from Wood! It was a cosy little restaurant with a great atmosphere and decor. 

I decided to opt for something a little different whilst there called a 'Hey Poppy Sandwhich.' It consisted of Sliced Chicken Breast, Lime Mayonnaise (surprisingly lovely and refreshing!), cucumber and rocket on toasted ciabatta. All of the sandwiches came with new potatoes, a side salad with balsamic vinegar and red cabbage coleslaw - for £6.45 in total it is definitely worth it!

Check out Wood Deli & Wine Bar Here

I can't wait to go back and visit Manchester in a few weeks and discover what else they have to offer :-)

Lots of love,

Sarah Marie x

3 Ways to Transform Your Room

Hi everyone,

After being at university for nearly two weeks I feel like my room is finally coming together - hurrah! Having a fresh new canvas to work with meant that I could create a room that reflected my style, whilst still feeling homely. I love how it has turned out so far :-)

1. Colour scheme

I started by picking out my bedding, I knew what my room in my accommodation would look like from  images online and therefore worked with those images to create the base of my desired room. Luckily my walls are white so anything goes! From the images I saw that my floor was blue and my curtains also (although to my dismay they were red when I arrived but hey ho) and therefore decided I wanted a blue, white and grey theme :-) For a homely touch I placed two elephant toys given to me by my boyfriend and parents on the bed.

Bedding: Dunelm Mill £4.99- £24.99 (Evangaline Bedding)
Cushions: The Range - similar ones available at Asda £10 (Grey Faux Fur Cushion)
Elephant Toys: Any Toy Shop


2. Shelf Space

I transformed my shelf space with a selection of fashion books, which add a pop of colour to the shelf and also look super cute, a little plant to add some life, my polaroid camera, a Vogue travel flask and a storage bin which is handy for anything you do not want on display or when you need to quickly tidy your room when your parents visit!  

Books: Alexa Chung: IT Book £16.99
            Vogue On: Coco Chanel £12.00
            Vogue On: Elsa Schiaparelli £12.00
            Vogue On: Alexander McQueen £12.00
            British Fashion Designers £7.96
            The Little Dictionary of Fashion £8.99
            The Fashion Book £7.95
Plant: Similar Products at Homebase £0.99 (Succulent Mix House Plant)
Polaroid Camera: Urban Outfitters £90 (Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 Camera White)
Vogue Travel Flask: Vogue Festival
Storage Bin: Tiger £20.00 for set of 3


3. Pin Board

As I wanted to stick with my neutral theme, I decided that I needed to cover up the bright red notice board on my wall. To do this I flicked through magazines and found images or samples of text that I liked and stuck to pictures that were predominately white but still had a sense of colour in them and slowly began tearing out, pinning and arranging them on the board. To make the board more personalised I included polaroid pictures I had taken with friends, family (or the dog!), tickets from events I had attended and also handy University booklets. 

Hope you enjoyed this post :-)

Lots of love,
Sarah Marie x 

Black & White

Hi everyone, 

Since moving to university, I have been doing a little bit of shopping and experimenting with different clothing - here's an OOTD of my two most recent purchases :-)

 As soon as I saw the ribbed crop top I knew it would be an essential item for my wardrobe, plus it was only £10 - bargain! I will definitely be snapping up a few of the other colours soon. The skirt was a different style for me but I just couldn't resist the simplistic grid print. 

I paired this outfit with a pair of my favourite cut-out boots and a black leather jacket both from Topshop. 

Lots of love,

Sarah Marie x

Top: Topshop £10.00 (Long Sleeve Skinny Rib Crop Top)

Skirt: American Apparel £38.00 (The Grid Print Lulu Mini Skirt)